De nuit (Taipei, TAIWAN) ★★★★☆

De nuit ("By Night" in French) is the venue of my second serious dining experience on this brief 36-hour get-away trip to Taipei. I honestly don’t know much about the contemporary French restaurant other than that it has been awarded a Michelin star for three straight years since 2021.

Located on buzzy Xinyi Road, De nuit is decorated with a moody interior of grey and blue color. On top of their 6-course tasting menu were optional pairing with wine (NT$1,500) or non-alcoholic drinks (NT$1,000). I didn’t want to stuff myself too much knowing that there will be another big meal coming up tonight so I gladly declined the pairing option.  

First up were a trio of nibbles to kick off the meal. The theme here was "an ode to the Forest” and my server quickly poured in some liquid nitrogen for some stunning visual effects.

    

I first started with a crispy wafer, check that two crispy wafers made with Jerusalem artichoke with creamy artichoke purée, sherry vinegar and coffee powder sandwiched in between. This came with very interesting flavors and textures.

It was followed by a beer battered vension ball with a centre of vension confi and pink pepper, sprinkled with porcini powder on top.

But my favorite nibble was the final one, a tartlet made with snow crab meat, sea urchin and cauliflower purée, finished off brilliantly with a bit of lobster consommé. This was very tasty and I thought the size was definitely more than just a single bite (which was certainly a good thing).

Now that they have gotten my attention by setting the bar a bit higher than what I have expected, let's see if they could deliver......

Salmon, ricotta cheese, citrus – A very busy dish center around slices of fresh salmon which has been marinated with sea salt for seven hours. There were a lot of herbs (like parsley and chai), fruits (orange, grapefruit, passion fruit sauce) and vegetables (tomato, candied turnip) in play with different degrees of sweetness and acidity; and the mix of flavors combined well with the contrasting textures to create quite a satisfying mouthfeel. A very refreshing dish that really helped to fire up my appetite (fire up my senses too with the colorful presentation!).

Artichoke, Comté, hazelnut – The dumplings topped with Comté cheese, came filled with artichoke purée and smoked bacon in the middle, and was matched with a flavorful sauce made from beef reduction and hazelnut oil. Since artichoke and hazelnut were two of the main ingredients here, it was only fitting that the garnish was also made with an artichoke chip and hazelnut.

This was certainly not bad but if artichoke was the star here, it didn't really stand out.

Milk fish, fennel, chorizo – We quickly moved onto our fish course and today's market fish was local milk fish (虱目魚), charcoal grilled and served with asparagus leaves, chorizo, fennel, garlic purée and pearl onions. I love the nice finishing touch delivered by the umami-rich sauce made from lobster coral and turnip. That tasted a bit like a lighter version of our Chinese oyster sauce (蠔油). 

Lumina lamb, bell pepper, aubergine – The succulent Lumina lamb from New Zealand, was pan-fried and paired with delicate eggplant purée.

The sauce made with reduction from the lamb, olive and bell pepper helped to balance the gaminess of the lamb.

Persimmon, pumpkin, Oolong tea – The first of the two desserts and one of my many favorite dishes this afternoon. I love persimmon in a French dessert and this is as well-designed and executed as it gets. Underneath the thin sheets made with pumpkin were persimmon jam, compote, and herbs.

I really enjoyed the fine details of this dessert. The tiny little oolong tea jelly on the corner of the pumpkin sheet delivered some lovely fragrance to the mix and the liquid nitrogen persimmon ice-cream added a refreshing touch. Impressive~!

Chestnut, truffle, caramel – The second dessert was a crispy tube filled with chestnut purée, truffle ice-cream, caramel sauce and ice-cream.

This reminded me a bit of the iconic dessert from now defunct Cuisine[s] Michel Troisgros in Tokyo featuring meringue tubes with walnut ice-cream and hazelnut cream.

Another cup of tea for me, a sign that I'm really chilling out and having a relaxing time.

Mignardises were buckwheat mochi and grapefruit tart; both were very delicate. 

Last but not least, a cucumber champagne bon bon to wrap up this sensational meal. 

De nuit was my final booking for this trip and I was truly blessed to have it as part of my itinerary. The icing on the cake was the special visit from Chef Kei Koo (古俊基), a home-grown talent from Hong Kong who honed his skills at Amber and Ecriture. I was really impressed with his passion for cooking and his inspiration was simply phenomenal. I am already thinking about the potential timeline for a return visit.

Food Rating: 7.5/10

Price: $$$

Address: No.175, Section 4, Xinyi Road, Da'an District, Taipei, Taiwan

Closest Metro Station: Xinyi Anhe

Tel: +886 2-2700-1958

Website: www.denuit.com.tw

Opening Hours: 11:30am - 3:00pm (Fri - Sat), 6:00pm - 10:30pm (Tue - Sat)